Golden State Equity Partners Has $6.95 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 884.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,782 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 18,670 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.3% of Golden State Equity Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Golden State Equity Partners' holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 177 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $3.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $347.16. 2,767,696 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,020,757. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $332.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 26.32%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.